Families shattered by Christchurch school closures

Parents Alicia Krueger (L) and Jackie Kissel react after being told by Phillipstown principal Tony Simpson their the school will be merged. Photo / Martin Hunter

Andrew Smith hoisted daughter Serenity into air after the school bell today, a mural of her young, smiling face painted on a playground wall behind her.

It's the same Phillipstown School playground in Christchurch that Mr Smith once enjoyed in the 1970s - along with most of his extended whanau.

Three of his children have kept the family tradition alive, including Down's Syndrome daughter Terina, who's doted on as a "celebrity'' by her peers.

"I suppose the mural will be knocked down along with everything else,'' said Mr Smith, 50, just moments after learning the Ministry of Education was closing his beloved primary school as part of the $1 billion city schools shake-up.

The decile one school with a roll of 165 pupils will merge with nearby Woolston Primary, across the busy commuters' arterial Ferry Rd, to create a 465-child super-school as early as next January.

A total of seven schools will close and six will merge from next year, Education Minister Hekia Parata confirmed today.